Client Insight: “I lost weight, but my brain still criticized my body size.”

The following blog posts talks about weight loss. If this is something that might bring up negative feelings for you, please skip this post to protect your mental and physical health.

Weight loss can happen for all kinds of reasons, from anxiety to happiness to stress to a change in routine. So, it should come as no surprise that emotional eaters come in all shapes and sizes! What I often hear from clients who have lost weight on their journey is that they still find themselves criticizing their body in the same way as when they weighed more.

Does that surprise you?

Many people I work with at the Centre for Emotional Eating believe that if they could just “get a handle” on their emotional eating that everything would all into place—their waistline would shrink, they’d be a kinder person, get that promotion, they’d finally do that thing they’ve always want to.

This is why dieting is so tempting: it markets itself as a cure-all when in reality it keeps you stuck in failure mode because what they are selling is usually drastic, tough to stick to, and sets you up for disappointment. The truth is that the diet industry doesn’t want you to ever be happy with how you look or with the number on the bathroom scale, because then it would be out of business! It is an act of rebellion to love yourself, or even feel neutral about your body, no matter what your weight is.

That number is just a number. It doesn’t tell you how kind you are. How intelligent you are. How wonderful you are. And it definitely doesn’t factor in genetics!

It is not a “goal weight” that will make you feel better about your appearance. It is catching negative self-criticism now, reframing your thoughts now, working through emotions now, no matter your size. Doing this mental work will bring you peace of mind, and even self-love, without having to give up the foods you enjoy or spend hours in the gym.

💛 Your peace awaits.